What is Affiliate Marketing?

There are many ways for a company to advertise on the web, and there are many ways that enterprising webmasters can sell space on their websites. One way that is getting a lot of attention lately is affiliate marketing. With all of the different ways to advertise online, it can be hard to understand each type, so in this article we will discuss what affiliate marketing is and the best ways to participate.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

The simple definition of affiliate marketing is when a company pays an outside entity to market their programs. Technically speaking anytime a website sells an ad to a company, this is a type of affiliate marketing. However, affiliate marketing in internet marketing has come to mean a specific type of advertising. This type of advertising is commission based, meaning the person who displays the add only gets paid if the customer who clicks completes the desired action. For instance, if an affiliate marketer for Amazon (or in their company terms an associate) places a link for a book on their blog, and a customer clicks on it, the marketer only gets paid if the person ends up purchasing the item.

Why Affiliate Marketing?

In many other forms of internet marketing it is “easier” to get paid because all a customer has to do is click to get there. However, the pay for clicks is significantly less. Affiliate Marketing tends to have better return on investment both for the company doing the marketing and the affiliate placing the link. For the company doing the marketing, they are only paying for qualifying actions, which means they pay less often and only in instances in which the ad yielded the desired results. For the affiliate marketer pay offs are higher as well. As opposed to getting paid a fraction of a cent for every click they get, they get a percentage of the sale or a designated dollar amount for each qualified response. They may receive fewer of these payoffs, but they are larger. Furthermore, affiliate marketing allows for more relevant ad placement. In many affiliate programs, affiliates can choose ads and products that match their website’s goals and products. In addition, they can track the performance of each ad and replace lower performing ads. This enhances sales for both company and affiliate leading to higher profits for all.

How Do I Start?

If you are a company, you can start by contacting a company that specializes in affiliate marketing programs. Such companies will have the expertise to help you provide relevant tools to your affiliates and set up proper contracts and payments. If you are a webmaster looking to add affiliate marketing to your website, you need to contact the companies as well. If you are interested in participating affiliate marketing programs from either side, it is wise to consider the best ways to implement this strategy, understanding all of the technical requirements, and evaluating the different programs available to make sure that you are working with programs that are ethical and well maintained to ensure you are receiving maximum return on your investment. Nourtek Solutions can help you line up all technical aspects and can consult on the best affiliate marketing programs, helping you evaluate the tools and results of each company. For more information please contact us.